A meeting of Youth Advocates and Education CSO’S with Helen Grant – UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Girls Education – Forum for African Women Educationalists: FAWE

By FAWE Uganda

On 24^th March 2021, the UK Prime Ministers’ Envoy on Girl’s Education visited Uganda. In her interactions, she met various CSO organisations including FAWE Uganda which was represented by the Programmes Officer – Joseph Adiama and Bridget Akurut – a FAWE Alumni in Uganda and also the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Youth leader. Bridget shared her personal story about the challenges she encountered in accessing education. She emphasized the need and urgency to prioritise education for the girl child now and in the future. As a youth leader in her community, she points out that; “There’s need for capacity building for young people in youth-led advocacy for better education – not as just beneficiaries of education”. To transform our education system, she noted that a mindset change is needed for all education stakeholders given the COVID-19 impact to the education sector. She further noted that the young people encounter challenges to transition from school to the job market- where many of them remain unemployed and are unable to apply the knowledge they gained from school into the practical field. She added that our education system should empower learners with creative, survival and practical skills to meet the demands of the job market.

As a GPE Youth Leader, she called on all members present to raise their hands in support of GPE’s #RaiseYourHand #FundEducation Campaign ahead of the July 2021 Global Education Financing Conference, being hosted by Kenya and the UK.

Caption: Ms Helen Grant (right) UK Prime Ministers’ Envoy on Girl’s Education poses for a picture with FAWE Alumni and GPE Youth Leader Ms. Bridget Akurut at a meeting with Youth Advocates and Education CSO’S